


Episode 70: When It Rains, It Pours..

by PitoyaPTx



Series: Clan Meso'a [70]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mandalorian, Mandalorian Clan, Mandalorian Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27048706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PitoyaPTx/pseuds/PitoyaPTx
Summary: "This doesn't make any sense." ~MaceonThe Ordo take a crack at the holodisk Cara was carrying.
Series: Clan Meso'a [70]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1261364
Kudos: 1





	Episode 70: When It Rains, It Pours..

Jiik, Chellin, and Garrigon met them on the landing pad, the Togruta with a genuine look of concern on his face. He said nothing as Lyse, Teika, and Noga’n passed with Jecho’s body, although he did pat Lyse’s pauldron. He passed Beun as well, who was leading Goldie out and looking as though she’d just had a heated argument. Beon and Fent were still at the top of the gangplank when he reached it, leading the other stretcher down. He stood at the base with his hands clasped behind him.   
“How is she?” he asked, approaching them and putting a hand on the energy field.   
“Dead,” said Fent, “We think she... suffocated.”   
“Suffocated?”  
Fent nodded. Jiik looked back at the teen’s gaunt face.   
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I mean it.”   
Beon sighed, “I know you do.”   
“Anhari and Seru?” Fent asked before Jiik could respond.   
“We’re still scanning,” answered Garrigon as he and Chellin joined them.   
Chellin approached the stretcher.   
“Did she have family?”   
“A brother,” said Fent. And us, he thought to himself.   
“Where is he?”  
“Not sure, but he got married only a few months ago and we know his name. Shouldn’t be too hard to find at least something about him.”   
“Well, before you do,” said Jiik, taking his hand off the stretcher and making to leave, “We’re going to take a crack at that holodisc you found. Maybe that will give us some answers.”   
“You can leave her in the medbay,” Garrigon added, “Ibri should be there. She’ll take care of her.”   
“She’s head of the medical division now, isn’t she?”   
“She is,” Chellin affirmed, a hint of pride in his voice, “And I’ve been meaning to talk to you and Noga’n about that.”   
“I’ll take her,” said Beon, turning the stretcher away from the group.   
“Are you sure?”  
Beon nodded.   
“I’ll go with you,” said Jiik, “I want to talk to the rest of your crew anyways and that’s probably where they still are.”   
Beon didn’t respond, continuing to lead the stretcher away with Jiik flanking on the other side. Fent watched them leave and felt himself sink slightly. Chellin patted his pauldron.   
“Jiik filled me in when you came back,” the Alor said after a moment, his tone somber, “For aruetii, humans especially, fifteen is still considered young for death.”   
“She never had a chance to...do anything with her life.” said Fent, his heart sinking, “That’s all she wanted to do. Something.”   
Garrigon hummed, “We all want that.”   
“Who’s to say she didn’t get a taste of that with the Meso’a?” Chellin posed the question like a researcher would a thought experiment. Fent balled up his fists.   
“And look what that did to her,” he said through gritted teeth. 

“You didn’t need to come with me.” Beon said as they rounded another corner into the glass lined walkway between the hangar and main medical complex.   
On either side of them, the vista consisted of dense patches of vegetation struggling to cover the wasteland that was the planet Ordo. The Clan kept to the equator, the only place anything of value could grow, but largely relied on greenhouses and environmental pods for survival. The particular patch of trees they were passing through had begun to thin over time due to the constant battering it received from ship traffic. They’d done what they could to replant, but those efforts take time. Beon grew up in the jungles of Onderon and Dxun. The world seemed to shrink when he was on Ordo and he rarely ventured outside unless he had to.   
Jiik stopped. Beon paused and looked back at him.   
“Tell me,” the older warrior said after a moment, “When you saw the Meso’a, Maceon said they had a shield. What color was it?”  
Beon thought for a moment, recalling the eerie appearance of the foreign warrior with the eye covered shield.   
“Brown and black with white eyes.”   
Jiik nodded, his eyes focussed on a point somewhere off behind Beon.   
“Why?”   
Jiik shook his head, “It’s just… interesting.”   
“Interesting?” Beon crossed his arms, “Or does it mean something?”  
The Togruta rubbed his chin idly. “More than you’d know.” 

Ibri wasn’t there when they reached the medbay, but Lyse greeted them outside the morgue suite. Teika and Noga’n were nowhere to be seen.   
“They got a holo from Fent about a minute ago,” she explained, “Something about Chellin wanting another look at Noga’n’s leg.” She shrugged.   
“How long did they say it would take to,” Beon nodded at the double doors.   
“A few days,” she sighed, “They’re going to try and..unbend her as best they can.” She shuddered slightly, “She won’t exactly...fit in a standard casket as is… but she shouldn’t take that long,” Lyse added, gesturing at Cara, “Better get looking for her brother.”   
“What about Jecho?”  
Lyse shrugged again, “Maybe take her back to Ryloth? Bury her next to my folks. I’m pretty sure her only family is dead.”   
“She wasn’t born there?”  
“Nope.”   
“That’s not a good idea,” said Jiik, “We’ve got reports that the Separatists are making to control Ryloth. No troops on the ground yet, but our intel is solid.”   
Lyse groaned, “Are you kidding me?”   
“I know, and your people have suffered enough, but war is here,” he continued, “It might be best to bury Jecho here or on Dxun.”   
Lyse muttered some choice curses under her breath. “Fine,” she sighed resignedly, “I’ll talk to the others.”   
She got up with a grunt and patted Beon’s arm as she left. He could hear her curses trailing behind her as she did.   
“Your people?” Beon asked, “She’s mando’ad now.”   
Jiik sighed, “Beon, one day you’ll understand that just because a chapter of your life is over doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hold weight.”   
“I didn’t-”  
“There you are,” said Ibri, jogging down the hall, “Chel radioed me a bit ago, but I was tending to...oh,” she paused when she saw Cara, “I’ll get right on it.” She clicked her tongue behind her teeth and shook her head, taking the stretcher and leading it towards the double doors.   
“How long will it take,” Beon called after her.   
Ibri paused, scanning Cara for a moment, “A day, maybe as soon as tonight. There are a few others I’m in charge of, but she doesn’t look to be trouble, right?” she said to Cara’s corpse.   
“Don’t talk to the body!” someone said on the other side of the door. Ibri laughed.   
“A little banter never hurt, eh?” she gave Beon a thumbs up, “She’s in good hands.”   
“If you say so,” he shrugged as she and the stretcher disappeared inside. Jiik sighed.   
“Let’s go,” the Togruta said, putting an arm around Beon and turning him back towards the hallway, “Need to find your sister and head back to command.”   
“Right…” 

They found Beun with Tir and Talva taking turns giving Goldie dried jerky. The strill was lying on his back between them, lazily opening his mouth and letting them drop the dried meat into it, much to their amusement. Tir still looked like he’d been crying, so did Talva. Jiik put on his usual stern face and braced himself for their questions, but they didn’t notice him at first. Goldie let out a loud sneeze when a bit of jerky ended up in his nose. Talva shrieked with laughter and hopped out of range of Goldie’s tail which cut through the air as he sneezed again. Tir blocked it with his hands as it came around. Jiik smiled slightly.   
“You know,” he said to Beun, “That could be you.”   
She looked up at him and raised a brow, “What do you mean.”   
“I think you know.”   
She rolled her eyes, “Probably not.”   
“Why’s that?”  
She glanced at her brother. He avoided her gaze.   
“I’m sure I’ll hear about it later, then,” Jiik shook his head, “Tir, Talva, to the mess. You should eat before it gets late.”   
Tir closed up the half-empty bag and handed it back to Beun then got up from the floor. The pair trotted away without a word, though Tir paused and squeezed his grandfather’s hand, leaving the adults standing silently over Goldie who was fussing with the bag in Beun’s hand. She shook her head.   
“You’re going to get fat,” she joked, tapping his nose. He snorted and climbed up into her arms. She patted his back like a mother burping a child. Jiik smirked.   
“You know exactly what I mean,” he said again.   
“This isn’t the time,” she shot back.   
“You’re right,” he moved past her towards the corridor on the left, “But I’m telling you now, if you wait any longer you’re going to wish you hadn’t.”   
She gave him a “what does that even mean?” face, but he shrugged and continued on without them. She glared at his back.   
“Beun-”   
“I can’t do this right now Beon,” is what he heard in his head, but in reality she didn’t say anything. She pushed past him without a word and left him standing at the end of the hallway.

Fent, Teika, and Noga’n were talking excitedly by the central holotable when Beon walked in. Noga’n’s face was still puffy around the eyes, but whatever Chellin told them had him in much better spirits.   
“I’ll show you later,” he promised, clipping a datapad to his belt and sitting back on his crutches.   
Beun and Lyse stood opposite them on Jiik’s right; Maceon on his left beside her father and uncle. Once they’d all settled, Garrigon cleared his throat.   
“Moment of truth, then,” he said, syncing the silver holodisk to the table’s display.   
Above them bloomed the still image of a tall Zabrak with deep black markings and a human male mid laugh under his arm. Beside them, arm in arm, were two female Twi’lek with one looking an awful lot like Aviila.   
“What can you tell us about them?” Chellin asked Jiik.   
The Togruta shook his head, “Not much. They’re obviously Xibal Hunitz, or a raider as they’re more commonly referred to. Raiders bring supplies and intel back to the clan, but some groups operate more like a strike team.”   
“As in?”  
“As in,” Jiik crossed his arms, “they take out threats to the clan or enforce the strict rules of secrecy. You step out of line, you get visited by raiders,” He pointed at the three large teeth strung up on red beads hanging from each of their necks, “Xibal Hunitz was the name of a demon in the indigenous creation myth. He enacted the will of the god, Rahast, and her will always involved war and bloodshed.”   
“Oh,” said Teika, “Fitting then.”   
“Kinda badass,” Lyse chuckled.   
“Indeed,” said Chellin, tapping away on a datapad, “And how do you spell that?”   
Jiik rolled his eyes, “I’ll tell you later.”   
“So it’s just the picture, then?” Maceon spoke up, a hint of impatience in her voice.   
Garrigon turned the holodisk in his hands.   
“I don’t see any other functionality,” he reported, setting it down on the table.   
“Then why would Cara have it?” asked Fent, looking at Beon.   
“Maybe,” Chellin offered, “it was something for her to remember them by?”   
Beon shrugged. Chellin turned back to Jiik.   
“Does this tell us anything about their rank? Anything?”   
“No, and raiders don’t work like that. They all answer to the Alor, but I don’t know who that is now.”   
Fent tilted his head, “Hold on, that implies you knew at one point.”   
“Yeah, it does.”   
“Care to elaborate?”   
“No.”   
Fent frowned, and he was halfway through his inquisition when the door to the hall slid open, revealing a very out of breath Ibri. She paused a few feet from them, panting, and arched her back until it popped. Garrigon sighed.   
“Is there a reason you’re up here?” he asked.   
“Did you need something riduur?” Chellin added, “We’re just about to-”   
“Shush!” she held up a finger then pointed at Beon, “I (pant) had to, Kad above,” she trudged up to the table and plugged a small data chip into an empty port.   
“Really, Ibri?” Garrigon chided as the Meso’a vanished, replaced by a medical array.   
“This,” she explained, talking over him, “Is what I found.”   
The group looked around at one another.   
“Found where?” Chellin asked.   
She took two fingers and tapped the back of her neck under her helmet.   
“Right there.”   
“On...yourself?”   
“No!” she huffed, moving several unintelligible graphs out of the way to reveal a up close image of what looked like a patch of skin with two square puncture wounds, “On-”   
“Cara!” Fent and Beon exclaimed.


End file.
